Well, this is perhaps a record for me, i went every single T&T game in the competition.
Pros:
1) Wonderfully run competition, logistics were spot on most of the times, plenty professionalism. Quality of football was impressive.
2) nice crowd support, 15-16000 last night for the finals. Even the mexican wave made a few laps around the stands.
3) T&T, apart from the first half of last night's finals, and a part of the second half vs Barbados, played better than I expected. Although this is almost a second string local team, we basically showed the rest of the caribbean that we are a level above them. This must be very worrying for CFU as even Haiti knows come WCQ's.... T&T will be extremely difficult to contain.
4) Darryl Roberts - The man like a machine, real run and work hard, lovely touch and technique... The most impressive player for me in the competition. Up with Stern, he will be an excellent new dimension. He reminds me a lot of Leonson Lewis, build, style of play, etc etc...
5) Telesford - Very good prospect for one of the stopper positions. Very good young player, showed his class.
6) Densil and Jemmott - Showed a real decent partnership, complimented each other well most of the time. Very good players to have at our disposal for the next 3-4 years.
7) Tinto - Hint of supreme talent now developing. Silky smooth skills in the mould of Carlos....
Coach Rijsbergen! I see a post asking whether we give him enough credit, he is doing a very very good job so far with this young team.... Just goes to show that with adequate prep time and a decent coach, we can achieve good things.
Cons:
1) T&T was prone to spells of almost total indifference (eg. first half last night and part of the second half vs BIM)... Its like we just fall asleep sometimes.
2) Although we walked through this competition to the finals, I got a sense that T&T were just a slight bit lucky... In many of the games, the opposition was real running us, pace like fire and intensity that was causing problems, then BAM! we come and score, the opposition get demoralise, and we start with confidence... We cant keep playing like this vs CONCACAF's big guns.... Martinique looked VERY IMPRESSIVE agasint T&T, and although they played with 10 men for about 70 mins, they still were attacking T&T with no fear. Up till they got that man sent off, they looked the most impressive team we played in the tournament. Cuba looked extremely impressive too, a little less flashy than Martinique, but with more poise and technique. Haiti was somewhere in the middle, but they had the best tactics. We generally looked slower than these latin and french caribbean teams, they were outnumbering us most of the times on and off the ball.
3) Unecessary dribbling!!!!! Jemmot, main culprit. plenty odda men too, simple basic football...The men hit a man a dread spanner, the crowd gone mad, then u can bet yr house on one of 2 things that going to happen...A shit pass or the man try the dribble again and is hard jam and he loss the ball in a bad position. better dribble selection needed.
............................
Leslie Fitzpatrick - I dont know where to put this yute, in pros or cons... He have both.
Pros - The man have a wicked left foot. Best crosser in the team by a mile, and perhaps best passer as well. His technique is unpredictable. His first touch was plenty times very poor. he needed 2-3 touches to get the ball under control. But when he did, u know u getting a quality pass that causes panic in the opposition defense. I see him chest a 60 yard pass, screen it and leave out a defender at full pace and deliver an accurate cross in one movement. He does fight the game more than any other player. But at times, he appears a little slow and out of it. He definitely have to be kept for the next few years and developed. Excellent backup for Colin Samuel.
Coming away from the finals, i was a little sad we lose, but the crowd vibes and the T&T display throughout the entire competition had me feeling proud too. this was a team plenty people expected to get real licks.
When u think about it, we have a few players to look forward to rejoining the setup:
Kelvin Jack
Brent Sancho
Dennis Lawrence
Cyd Gray
Carlos Edwards
Colin Samuel
Silvio Spann
Chris Birchall
Otis Seatin
Dwight Yorke ( for a lill while again)
Stern John
Kenwyne Jones
Cornel Glen
(If I leave out anyone, allyuh could add in...)
And some of the other Jabloteh boys,,,We theoretically developing very good depth for the next WC run.
Trus me, haiti win last night and celebrate like when T&T qualify for Germany...But them and everybody else in the caribbean now realise after this competition that T&T are the undoubted and exclusive kings of caribbean football...and by a fair deal as well...
Onto Gold Cup 2007!
